Heating system



March 24, 1942. 'MdJ. BLACK.

' HEATING SYSTEM Filed June 10, 1940 Patented Mar. 24, 1942 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEATING SYSTEM Murray J. Black, Los Angeles, Calif. Application June 10, 1940, Serial No. 339,737

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a heating system and has as its primary object the provision of means for utilizing and conserving the waste heat of the products of combustion that ordinarily passes up the chimney and is lost to the atmosphere.

Another object is to provide a construction in a chimney flue whereby the temperature of hot flue gases may be employed to effect the heating of a controlled supply of fresh air the source of the supply of which will be the atmosphere contiguous the upper end of the chimney which is remote from the ground and for that reason will be less contaminated by dust and other foreign matter.

Another object is to provide a means for effecting the flow of fresh air downwardly through a chimney counter to and separate from upwardly flowing hot combustion gases, in a fashion to effect exchange of heat from such gases to the down flowing volume of air; together with means for effecting distribution of the volume of heated air thus obtained to points remote from the source of the hot combustion gases.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention is carried into effect as illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l as a view in section and elevation of a chimney depicting the invention as applied and,

as seen on the line l--l of Fig. 2 in the direction indicated by the arrows Fig. 2 is a detail in vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail in horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the seal at the upper end of the chimney flue.

Fig. 4 is a detail in horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing the sea] at the lower end of the chimney flue.

Referring to the drawing more specifically, in which corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts, A indicates a masonry chimney of conventional construction, which is here shown as leading from the smoke chamber B of a fireplace C, but which manifestly may lead from any other source of hot products of combustion, such as a stove or furnace; the invention being particularly applicable to fireplace chimneys since they ordinarily afford a greater amount of waste heat than chimneys employed solely as discharge flues for stoves and furnaces.

In carrying out the invention, the flue D of the chimney A is fitted with one or more hot gas conduits I which lead throughout the length of the chimney A from the upper end of the smoke chamber B to a point above the upper margin of the chimney, and the space surrounding the conduits III is sealed oif at the upper and lower end of the chimney flue D by walls II and I2 of cement, plaster, metal or other suitable material so as to convert the chimney flue into an air conducting passage.

An air inlet E is provided in the upper end of the passage D here shown as comprising an inverted U-shaped pipe I3 one end of which opens to the air conducting passage D through the seal M r and the other end of which opens downwardly to atmosphere contiguous to the outer surface of the chimney A through a screen I4. The object of inverting the pipe 13 is to have the air intake suflicientlyremote from the smoke outlet as to prevent the incoming air from being mixed with smoke emitted from the chimney.

The conduits III are formed of metal and are fitted with longitudinally extending radiating webs l5 protruding into the air conducting passage D and are interconnected at suitable intervals throughout the length thereof with? diagonally extending relatively off-set plates l6 which serve as bafiles to deflect the flow of air as it passes through the air conducting passage D along a zig-zag course of travel and thereby afford greater opportunity for radiation of heat from the conduits Ill into the air flowing through the passage D.

The conduits ID are fastened together as by means of the plates I6, and are anchored to the chimney as by imbedding margins of the plates in the masonry of the chimney; the conduits thus serving to reinforce and strengthen the chimney which is important particularly in districts subject to earthquakes.

The upper end of the air conducting passage is open to atmosphere through the pipe I3 while the lower end thereof is connected by a conduit I! in the seal I2 to a super-heating chamber F located at the back of the fireplace C so as to be exposed to the extremely hot gases passing along the back and upper part of the fireplace and through the fireplace throat 20 and the smoke chamber 13; the chamber F being separated from the fireplace and smoke chamber by a metallic wall I8.

Leading from the super-heating chamber F is a conduit 2| connecting with an air conditioner 22 of conventional construction and through which air may be drawn or caused to flow by a combined electric motor and blower 23 which air will be discharged by the blower through a conduit 24 and directed to a register 25 arranged as occasion may require to open in a room or rooms at a point therein remote from the source of heat.

In the operation of the invention as above described, on placing the electric motor in operation, the outside air will be drawn in through the air intake pipe l3, down the air conducting passage D, into the super-heating chamber F by the way of conduit ll. The air passes through conduit 2| in air conditioner 22 and is then conducted through the blower and finally exhausted through a register 25 in another part of the house.

On building a fire in the fire place C, the hot products of combustion impinge in part on the wall l8 of the super-heating chamber F so as to efiect heating of the air in the chamber; the hot gases then rising through the conduits I and in their course of travel therethrough effecting heating of the metallic walls of the conduits so as to effect radiation of heat into the air conducting passage D and thereby effect transfer of heat to the down flowing stream of air being conveyed tln'ough the air conducting passage. Heating of the walls of the conduits l0 also effects heating of the fins 15, which latter will act as radiants in further effecting transfer of heat from the conduits to the incoming air. As the gases rise in the conduits ill, the temperature of the gases will be greatly diminished as they progress upwardly since the incoming fresh air in flowing between, around, and along the conduits ill will absorb a considerable portion of the heat conducted through and radiating by the walls of the conduits l0 and the fins l5; the downwardly flowing air being gradually heated as it advances and being finally subjected to the more intense heat radiated into the chamber F from the wall [8.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by the use of my invention a supply of heated fresh air may be readily obtained by utilization of the hot flue gases of a chimney which ordinarily go to waste and that such supply of heated air may be readily directed to points of discharge remote from the source of the hot flue gases. One great advantage this invention has over most hot air heaters is that it reverses the direction of the incoming air in reference to the hot products of combustion. The cold outside air enters at the top end of the radiating pipes l8 taking the last available heat from them; as the incoming air descends it gradually heats and is finally superheated in chamber F or I before it is discharged through the radiator in the room.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention I do not limit myself to the exact details of construction set forth, and the invention embraces such changes, modifications and equivalents of the parts and their formation as come within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a heating system, a fire-place having a smoke chamber, a chimney, a seal at the upper and lower ends of said chimney converting the latter into an air passage, an air inlet extending through the seal at the upper end of said chimney opening to said passage, means for discharging air from the lower end of said passage, and means for conveying hot gases from said smoke chamber upwardly through said passage apart from air in the latter adapted to radiate heat into said passage.

2. In a heating system, a fire-place having a smoke chamber, a chimney, a seal at the upper and lower ends of said chimney converting the latter into an air passage, an inverted U-shaped air inlet pipe extending through the seal at the upper end of said chimney and opening to said passage, means for discharging air from the lower end of said passage, means for conveying hot gases from said smoke chamber upwardly through said passage apart from air in the latter adapted to radiate heat into said passage, and means in said fire-place for superheating air delivered from said passage.

3. In a heating system, a chimney having a flue sealed in part at its upper and lower ends to form an air passage, a fresh air intake pipe leading into said passage through the seal at the upper end thereof having a downwardly opening inlet adjacent the upper end of said chimney, means for conveying air from the lower end of said passage, and hot gas conveying pipe leading upwardly through said passage opening at its upper and lower ends through said seals.

4. In a heating system, a chimney sealed in part at its upper and lower ends to form an air passage, a fresh air intake pipe leading downwardly into said passage through the seal at the upper end thereof having a downwardly opening inlet adjacent the upper end of said chimney, means for conveying air from the lower end of said passage, means for super-heating air in said air conveying means, and hot gas conveying pipes leading upwardly through said passage opening at their upper and lower ends through said seals.

MURRAY J. BLACK. 

